Mustang Trail Race - the runners

There were 35 "runners" for the race, 36 if you include the police escort (far left in the picture) who ran two stages. However not everyone ran every stage and some people walked the whole way.   

We were a mixed ability group ranging from Salamon team runners to those who had not done anything like this before. So who were the runners?

Sylvan - a French runner based in Singapore who did much of his training on a treadmill. He had trekked for 10 days up to 5000 metres to acclimatise. Overall 1st

Stefan - a Salamon sponsored runner from Bavaria who owns a running shop with his wife Barbara. The only person who ran every hill. Had lived at altitude for sometime so was acclimatised. 2nd overall. 

Tyler ( the younger)- from Montana in his early 20s. On a Salamon scholarship and had been in Nepal for a couple of weeks to visit and run with Mira Rai.

Gian Mario (Jimmy) - from Lake Garda and had run the UTMB and on his way to run a World Skyrunning race in a remote part of Western China. 

Tyler ( the older but still young) - living in Pokhara with his wife originally from Spokane, Washington State and an experienced fast runner. 

Natalia - from Spain but living in Switzerland. Had run the Manaslu race and the Glencoe Skyline.  Going to China with Jimmy and doing the Dragons Back in May. Great runner. 

5 Young Nepali girl runners. Regina, Sita, Rashila, Sunita and Kamala.  Regina was achieving times similar to Mira Rai on this race. 

George - from the UK who ran with me for 5 stages had a fast marathon time but not done anything like this before. Once he was acclimatised he stormed ahead. 

Chris (Canada) - from Edmonton was an experienced runner and very fast downhill. 

Sven - from Germany carried a heavy Leica camera with him the whole way. Once acclimatised he was strong uphill. 

Nick - from New York but based in Russia was a really strong runner who was not well for the last couple of days. 

Alex - from Cambridge was an experienced Ultra runner who once acclimatised was strong. Doing the Dragons Back in May. 

Barbara - Stefan's other half was consistently strong not finishng long after me most days. 

Tite - from the Dolomites had run the race before and had looked after Mira Rai when she was in Italy. Going to china with Jimmy and Natalia. 

Erica - from Australia. She was consistently strong and always had a positive outlook.

Jo - from Northern Ireland but living in London was a strong runner who finished well up the field. 

Steph - from Dubai was a multiple Comrades finisher and doing it again this year. 

 

Pushba - a Nepali living in the UK and in the Hampshire Constabulary.  The daughter of a Gurkha soldier and was really a great person to be with as well as being a tough runner. 

Priti - a Nepali living in Kathmandu and a part of the trail running Nepal scene. An experienced runner and fun to be with. 

Paul and Shona - from Australia and had done the Manaslu race and were experienced trail runners. 

Andrea and Ivelia - A couple from Italy. Andrea was an experienced trail runner but chose to run with Ivelia who was new to it. 

Helen - from the UK was not experienced on this sort of terrain but was determined to finish each stage. 

James - the oldest participant based in the UK finished each leg in good heart and an experienced runner. 

Jim - from Australia never intended to run e race but walked (very fast) each stage and was great company. 

Hiro - from Kathmandu was a great runner and had done the race before. He chose to take photos most of the time. 

 

Mustang Trail Race - Route finding and marking the trail

The race was run in pretty remote country and the maps were not accurate enough to enable realistic map reading. There was no one you could ask the way most of the time and the trail we took was not always the most obvious route from A to B. Therefore we had the route marked for us by none other than the world famous Lizzy Hawker. For those of you who do not know who she is this is a list of some of her accomplishments:

5 times winner of the 160k Ultra Tour Du Mont Blanc

Former 24 hour world record holder 

Former 100k world champion

Winner of 155 mile Spartathlon

In 2016 she ran the 1600k Grand Himalayan Trail across Nepal in 42 days

Lizzy and Menai

Lizzie would set off at about 4.30am to lay a trail of orange ribbons and spray paint for us to stop us from getting lost. She was meticulous in setting the trail and it rarely let us down. The only time nearly all of us got lost was on stage 2 when the villagers decided to help themselves to the ribbons. We saw yaks, bikes and dogs decorated with orange ribbons on our travels. At the end of the day the sweeper would collect all the ribbons again and cross the finish line looking like some sort of orange rag doll. 

Lizzy was great to have along on the trip and had wise words for us about the trail. She is incredibly modest about her achievement and it was quite hard to get her to talk about them.  She obviously is happiest in the mountains and running. 

Mustang Trail Race 2017 Day 14

So to the last stage of the race - stage 8. A nice short 15k to the holy town of Mukinath. Ok it was short but we still had to climb over 1000 metres and cross a pass at 4100 metres so it was not going to be easy. 

We had another staggered start to the day with the same timings as before and the start was brutal, climbing after the first 200 metres with only  a few leveller patches to catch breath. If I was to retain my 12th place I had to stay within 13 minutes of the improving Sven. For the first 5k this was OK but I tired and he pulled away. It was a hard climb but at least  I reached the high point before the faster runners caught me and was greeted with a jaw dropping view of the whole Annapurna range and Dhaulagiri there in full view. 

We then had a great 5k downhill to the town which was visible from the pass. I really enjoyed this very runnable section until the sting in the tail of climbing up to the town. At this point Stefan caught me and I followed him into town fighting crowds of pilgrims coming in the opposite direction. It was a bit surreal but not as odd as our finishing point - the Bob Marley cafe and grill. 

It was great to finish and because of the staggered start finishers arrived in quick succession cheered on by other runners, tourists and even some bemused pilgrims. 

We celebrated with Gorkha beer and burgers before a 1 hour uncomfortable bus ride to the hotel in rainy  Jomsom. In the evening we had the awards dinner and buffet dhal bhat before dropping into a well deserved bed at the late night time of 10pm. After 14 days of early starts and exertion we looked forward to a bit of rest and recuperation in Pokhara. 

Mustang Trail Race 2017 Day 13

Stage 7 was another big day with a reported distance of 26 or 28k depending on which document you believe. According to the provided profile the course had one big climb of 1000 metres and then followed a ridge line before a big drop to the village of Chuksang.  Today we had a staggered start with the slower runners starting at 7am, the mid-packers at 7.30am and the faster runners at 8am. 

It was a difficult start with the course climbing for 7k to over 4000 metres and I was struggling with the beginnings of a cold and sore throat. I passed Menai after about an hour and Stefan (the Salomon team runner from Germany) stormed past me running up to the pass. It was really impressive to see him in action working hard up the hill. Once we got to the top it was actually cold with patches of snow visible and I considered putting on an extra layer. 

We then had a long ridge line which was not as flat as I had hoped that undulated for 10k at an altitude over 4000 metres which meant difficult running. I was passed by a lot of the faster runners on this section as I struggled along it but at least it meant I was not on my own for long. The long descent to Chuksang was difficult as the path was steep, rocky and exposed made worse by the fact that you could see the village from 6k away. I managed to fall three times but was not injured. 

I wobbled into the finish in 3.59 which was pretty much on my estimate with Menai trotting in an hour or so later.

Chris from Gloucester had a good run but managed to dislocate his shoulder on the stairs of the guest house. The doctor was with the sweeper so possibly 2 hours away so poor Chris just had to wait. However two Italian runners happened to be orthopaedic surgeons and after they finished together Andrea and Ivelea set about putting the shoulder back together. It was pretty gruesome to watch and not as easy as you would see on the TV. 

Mustang Trail Race 2017 Day 12

Stage 6 was a 20k jaunt with over 1000 metres of climbing. 

The complication was we had a 5k uphill trek to the start at a cave monastery. We even had a tea stop on the way to the start.  I presume it is a way of giving some income to these remote villages. 

The stage started at 10.30 so we were in for a hot one. We started with a lovely 5k downhill through a river valley and saw huge vultures that are attracted by the local practice of sky burials. Rashila a Nepali 17 year old girl took a tumble in front pf me but was up and running  with no ill effects. Then the first climb started taking us over a plateau and then a big drop to a river crossing and the half way checkpoint. George, my running partner for the last few days, had a new lease of life and flew ahead not to be seen again. 

We then had a big steep and relentless climb to a pass. This seemed to go on forever with multiple false summits. I was going well and managed to keep Nick, Sven and a   Rashila behind me to the top. Sven overtook me on the decent but I was able to pass him again on the long 5k run into the village of Tangye

Mustang Trail Race 2017 day 11

We had a nice relaxed start this morning and a 9am race start because stage 5 was a short one at just over 15k and 650 metres of climbing. There was a net descent for the day meaning that we are sleeping 300 metres lower tonight. 

The stage started with a longish climb to a pass and then 6k of superb ridge running with stunning views. At times the path was narrow with steep drop offs. 

Today we were running at between 3900 and 4100 metres and for the first time  I felt that I could really run properly. 

We then had a steep descent to a lovely green village before heading up a river valley. I was running with a good Nepali girl who took a massive shortcut route but scared us all to death with her antics trying to descend a scree and then a cliff. Three of us finished mote or less together: Nick first, then me and George in a time of around 2.03. Menai had a better day finishing in 3.14.

  The afternoon's "entertainment" was to go for a Lizzie Hawker half hour walk to look at a monastery and for fossils - 90 minutes later I returned with one measly fossil and a lot more tired. 

Mustang Trail Race 2017 Day 10

An early start for the big day of stage 4. As we start the race at over 3800 metres the day is all high altitude with two climbs well above 4000 metres. This was meant to be a very runnable day and to begin with is was on tracks but as we gained altitude I began to have to walk more and more. 

 We turned up a valley heading for a hidden cave with painting dating from the 1300s. The amazing thing is that this cave was at 4100 metres and only accessible with the use of a cable hand rail. Why would anyone want to live up here? It took about 1 hour 20 to reach the check in point and another hour to visit the cave with substantial climbing on precipitous narrow paths.

The run down the valley was fun with outstanding views and landscapes. We contoured round a set of cliffs to head down to a valley where the water point was. We then had another 1k to get to the next check in check out. This was an amazing 5 storey cave settlement now abandoned. I managed to bang my head on a doorway and loose some blood.

 The next section was about 3k through villages and pastures before heading unto a high plateau that eventually headed down towards Lo Manthang 6k away.  Much of this was runnable and Sven left our little group and stormed ahead.  George and I kept a good pace over pastures, fields and irrigation ditches until the last descent and climb into Lo Manthang where George ran out of energy and I managed to finish a few minutes in front of him in 3.39. Menai struggled today but did a great job to complete the round in about 5 hours. 

Mustang Trail Race 2017 Day 9

Today was rest day with a leisurely start which was just as well because Menai had a terrible night with a combination of altitude sickness  and a cold. She went to see the group doctor who gave her a half dose of diamox for the altitude and a decongestant for her cold. 

During the morning we had a tour round the ancient walled city  of Lo Mantang.  This included visiting two Buddhist temples one dating from the 13th century and the other more impressive one from the 15th. It really incredible to think that this remote place was once the centre of Buddhist learning in the area. We also visited a monk museum, a monastery where children form the age of 7 are sent to become monks. The next visit was to a herbarium and a Buddhist doctor. He told people that they might be out of breath if they climbed slopes and might suffer from stomach upsets - no surprises there then. 

After the tour Menai went to bed and I joined some other runners for a coffee in an Illy coffee shop nearby and it wasn't bad coffee either. I even took a take away for Menai which she drank and went back to sleep until lunch! In the afternoon I want for a walk round the town with ex pilot Jim and Menai slept. 

The evening was spent preparing and fretting abut the next day which was to be a big high altitude day. 

Mustang Trail Race 2017 Day 8

So to stage 3 and the most altitude of the trip. This was a 21k race with over 1000 meters of climbing including two high passes. The running weather was perfect being cool but sunny. Our route took us past the longest prayer wall in the world. I didn't measure it but it was built on a long upward slope. Our next target was the village of Drakmar with its imposing cliffs and high level meditation caves. 

After this we had a relentless climb to a 4100 metre pass followed by a nice descent to the 700 year old temple at Ghar Gompa where there was a timed out checkpoint to allow us to look around the temple. 

There followed a descent followed by a climb of 500 metres to 4280 metres where the lack of oxygen caused problems. There was a 6k run in to our destination of Lo Manthang. I ran with George again finishing in 3.20 with Menai coming in at 4.45. A great guest house again with en suite and hot water. We had time to look around the town which is a fascinating combination of temples, narrow alleys, houses, prayer walls and religious stupas. 

Rest day tomorrow for washing and sightseeing. 

Mustang Trail Race 2017 Day 7

Today was reputed to be the toughest day of the trip at 27k with 2200 metres of climbing. The organisers had decided to change the course to make it more interesting and consequently longer and harder!  It was a 7.30 start and a brutal 500 metre climb to begin with, with great views and some exciting exposure on small cliffside tracks. 

It was hard work and I was sweating a lot after only 20 minutes. The path then went onto tracks before reaching the village of Tamar where a local had liked the look of the pink markers in the village leaving us clueless where to go. The fast runners ended up taking a completely different route to the rest of us, until half way. I ended up getting lost twice and losing a lot time. Luckily Menai reached the village when the problem had been rectified to a certain extent and she did not get lost. The next part involved crossing two river valleys and a climb to a 3800 metre pass. There followed a lovely descent to a cave temple where our time was stopped to allow us to look at it. We both used the time out to eat and take a well deserved rest. 

I had managed to catch some of the people who had overtaken me at this stage and continued on up the hill to the check point 2.5 k away. This was a stiff climb and I was exhausted again but had teamed up with George again and we kept each other going to cross a massive 4000 metre pass. From here it was mainly downhill to the village of Ghemi. I finished in 5 hours on the dot which was pretty much what I was expecting. Menai ran from the cave on her own and found the hills a struggle at altitude but kept herself going with snacks and a fear that the sweeper was going to catch her! This was not going to happen and she finished in under 7 hours. The slowest time was around 9 1/2 hours. Our accommodation for the night is first class considering how remote we are with an en suite bathroom with hot water. What luxury! 

Mustang Trail Race 2017 Day 6

We had a scheduled start of the race for 9.30 but due to some interference from Nepali officialdom who deemed running as an illegal activity, the race did not start on time. The Police needed to see our passports and permits and all sorts of other pointless pieces of paper. We also had a police escort and I am sure money changed hands. 

 At any rate we started the race at 11.40 when it was really hot and the wind had started. The first 8k was on a dust track with a fair bit of climbing which required some walking. After the checkpoint at 8k we turned off onto a really nice hill section on footpaths past irrigation ditches and then onto exposed rock and scree. This led to a dry river bed climbing to a plateau. At this point I was running with an English runner called George and Menai was running with some Nepali runners, Erica from Australia and Pushpa, a Gurkhas daughter. 

The descent was fast back into the valley and when we reached a village to cross the  river we were told to walk past the police post because, remember, running is an illegal activity. We then had about 1k of track before another bridge and a steep 50m climb to the finish. I was 9th equal in 2.27 with Menai powerin in 40 minutes later.

Mustang Trail Race 2017 Day 5

Really great mroning to wake up to a view of Nilgiri like this.

We were meant to meet the other runners at 8am arriving from Pokhara by plane but of course the flights were late. So eventually we had met up with everyone for a cup of coffee by 10 o'clock and had a briefing from  the organiser Richard Bull.

 Today it was a walk to the start by a circuitous route to gain altitude and get some acclimatisation in. We climbed for about 90 minutes to get to 3,400 metres before dropping down to a lovely Mustang village. The houses all had walled courtyards to keep the animals in winter and flat roofs where firewood was stored. We were guided to a snack spot by Lizzie Hawker, no less, who is one of the course organisers and will be marking the course for us each morning. The walk was a chance to meet the other runners and there are some serious runners here who have done some major tough races. Luckily there are others who are not super hard and are more Iike us. We are not even the oldest! The second half of the walk was more adventurous as we, along with most of the other runner did not follow the correct route which resulted in an exciting traverse above the river on rocks and scree. 

The village of Kagbeni is lovely and our lodge for the night is great. We even have an en suite with hot water. 

Mustang Trail Race 2017 Day 4

Today the itinerary was a bus ride to Marpha or Jomsom but as the main group arrive in Jomsom tomorrow morning we decided to get the bus all the way there. We had a leisurely start to the day with breakfast. We were at the bus stop at 8am and eventually caught a bus at 10am for the 55k trip on very unmade roads. It was an adventurous and painful journey. The buses are all Nepali size which meant that I hit my head on the luggage rack each time we went over a bump and Menai was jabbed in her side by the arm rest. As the road is single track there has a lot of reversing and juggling as buses passed each other. As I was on the window seat I had the joy of seeing the valley bottom inches away from the side of the bus each time this happened.  After about an hour there was a sudden gust of wind and I saw a hay bale sized boulder land about 6 feet in front of the bus. A bit of a commotion but we edged round it but what if we had been a few seconds earlier. There were wonderful views of Daulagiri and the Annapurnas around every bend which took our minds of the road plagued by landslides. Our next hold up was a truck that had a broken steering mechanism. This was fixed by a team effort in 30 minutes so we could go again. 

Unfortunately another landslide further up the road had blocked the road for 3 hours meaning we had to wait until at least 50 vehicles. After about three hours on the bus the scenery changed from a deep sided tree lined canyon to more open country and a wide river bed which became our track for a while which was actually less bumpy than the road. 

We then had lovely fields of barley and apple orchards in the area around Marpha. After 5 hours on the bus we got to a very dusty Jomsom and a clean hotel. We had tea/coffee and chocolate brownies for a late lunch followed by a walk around the sights of the town. 

Mustang Trail Race 2017 Day 3

It was a difficult night sleeping in the noisy dining room not because of the porters but noisy French Trekkers and the kitchen staff. I had to get up twice in the night to close the doors that were wide open and letting in wind and snow. On the upside because the storm raged for most of the night by morning the skys were clear and we were rewarded with stunning views of Daulagiri, Nilgiri and the Anapurnas.

 The itinerary said we were to run down to Tatopani 2,500 metres below us. This was not going to happen for a number of reasons. A few inches of snow on a high mountain ridge do not make for good running and we were both feeling the effects of a rough night and altitude headaches plus the fact that it was another breakfast of black tea and biscuits. It was slow tedious work cutting a route through the snow and ice on the stones steps downhill. This went on for about 2 hours by which time Menai was suffering. It eventually took us 4 hours to get to the lovely old fashioned village of Paundaw where work was in full swing getting in the winter barley. The harvest, threshing and winnowing all done by hand in ways unchanged for centuries.

It was a really lovey place that managed to have a miraculous  effect on Menai who had a coffee and apple pancake that saw her bouncing down the hill to Tatopani. We found a decent room in a guest house where we did some washing and went for a dip in the hot springs for £1.20 each. Really nice to have a few comforts and an early night. 

Mustang Trail Race 2017 Day 2

Another 5.30 start with just a cup of tea to get us under way.  We had fleeting views of Annapurna and Macchepuchere.  The problem today was that we were not sure where the finish point was going to be. Richard Bull had give us an itinerary that had the day ending at 3,660 metres at Kopra Danda. The guide books say that this is a 13-15 hours trek for two days. Suba was willing to give it a go but every person we met said that we would not get there. They were nearly right - more on that later.  This was a really beautiful day's walk on quiet trails with no one else in site. These are ancient rhododendron forests with orchids growing from the trunks and wild life.  During the day we saw or hear wild goat and pigs.

 The first place we came to was a very basic lodge where we fancied a cup of tea after an hour's walk. The only problem was that the owner and his friend were blind drunk on rhaksi (millet spirit ) at 7am. We ended up having to give them a hand and bought some biscuits to keep us going. After another hour the forest gave way to pine and open pastures. By 9.30 we had got to Dobato and had some much needed breakfast. 

We shared an omelette and a fried chapati and jam ( nicer than it sounds). The next stop was Bayeli (3,200metres) at about 11am where most people stop for the day.  We pressed on which meant a drop of  800 metres and a climb to Dhan Charka where we were told we should stay. Instead we had lunch and decided to press on for the 3 hour climb to Khopra Danda. We should really have taken more note of the spots of rain at lunch. After about 20 minutes of walking it had started to rain this turned to hail with associated thunder and lightning. Eventually it was snowing. We made it up in record time at just over 2 hours but were frozen if not a little hyperthermic.

 The hut was packed and there was no room for us but we stripped off nevertheless and got in front of the very warm fire where some lovely Italians made room  for us. We dried out, warmed up and had some food plus good conversations before bedding down for a rough night in the dining room with the porters. 

Mustang Trail Race 2017 Day 1

A five thirty start to re-pack and get to the airport for our 8.20 flight to Pokhara. We were delighted to be put on an earlier flight which in true Nepali fashion ended up arriving in Pokhara an hour after our original arrival time. We were met by our guide Suba and his boss Tek who took us to a smart looking jeep for the drive to where our warm up walk to the start of the race was to begin.  I recognised some of the places we drove through but things have changed a lot in 31 years.  The major change has been to road access with the metalled roads and tracks making impressive journeys up hillsides.  The Lumle agricultural centre was still there and we passed it in 90 minutes instead of the day's walk it used to be. 

En route we saw some monkeys eating winter barley and had a stop to show our trekking permits and buy some fruit. We are at out start point at 1.30 ready for what Suba told us would be a 3 to 4 hour walk.  Our route took us throughout the familiar and much developed Ghandrung village where we had lunch and into the wonderful rhododendron forests where we saw an impressive white headed monkey. However all the rhododendron flowers had gone here but later on they were in evidence. The route was quite busy with tourists of all nationalities, ages and sizes.

 By 5 we had arrived at our destination of Tadapani (meaning far water 2,600 metres) which was very busy. We had a room booked for us which was ok but not the cleanest. At least we had a shower and a decent dhal bhat with a nice warm fire in the dining room. We were in bed by 8pm.